Apparatus for surfacing roofing



Sept. 26, 1933. J. i.. wETTLAUFl-:R 1,928,275

APPARATUS FOR SURFACING ROOFING Original Filed March 28, 1928 4Sheets-Sheet l a iig-MTM u/illm/uLu/umm ummm Jules L. Welaufer INVENTORHJM MLM ATTORNEY 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 J. L. WETTLAUFER APPARATUS FORSURFACING ROOFING Original Filed March 28, 1928 Sept. 26, 1933.

Sept 26, 1933- J. L. WETTLAUFER APPARATUS FOR SURFACING ROOFING OriginalFiled March 28, 1928 L Sheets-Shea?. 3

INVENTOR ATTORNEY Sept. 26, 1933. J. L. WETTLAUFER 1,928,275

APPARATUS FOR SURFCING' ROOFING' Original Filed March 28, 1928 4Sheets-Sheet 4 Jules Lwemaufer INVENTOR BY )dig/1MM ATTORNEY PatentedSepia 26, i933 nutren sraras garant orifice 265,484. Divided and thisapplication December 3l, i930. Serial No. 505,717 l a claims.

This is a division of my co-pending application Serial No. 265,484.filed March 28th, 1928.

This invention relates generally to mixing devices for producing variousmixtures of solid 5 granular or comminuted materials, and finds oneparticular adaptation in the prepared roofing industry wherein mineralmaterials are employed in the process of manufacture. Roofing preparedin this way generally comprises a foundation of felted fibrous materialwhich is saturated in sheet form with waterproofing material of lthecharacter of asphalt, and is also provided with a waterproof andweatherproof coating of asphalt on one or both surfaces thereof, and insome instances on the edges thereof which are exposed to the weatherwhen the roong is applied on a roof. The waterproof coating on thesurface of the sheet which is to form the exposed portion of thefinished roofing product is usually provided with a wearing surface ofgrit, such as crushed slate or similar material, in order to protect thewaterproof coating and to provide a finishing surface for the product.

Granular material which has been found suitable for this purpose lendsitself very well to the production of roofing material of this characterhaving a widevariety of kcolors or color arrangements on the exposedface thereof.

At the present time there is a considerable deing material ofother thanavsolid color. Attempts have been made to produce roofing surfaced wityhvarious colors but the general result has been that when the roofingmaterial is laid up on the roof the variouscolors appear to the eye ofthe observer either in mathematical regularity or they are otherwisedistributed over the roof as to be displeasing to the eye, or in anyevent do not meetthe demand which now prevails for a roof of a` numberof colors blended into one another or distributed over the roof in suchhaphazardand irregular fashion as 'to effect a harmonious and pleasingcolor arrangement with no patterning or striping of the colors at one ormore places along thearoof.

It will be understood that prepared roofing of the type here referred tomay be either in the form of sheets or as -individual shingles, oras thesocalled strip shingles of commerce. l

0 Strip shingles and individual shingles which can be laid so as toproduce a nished roof meeting the requirements of a harmonious andartistic color arrangement as above noted, are being manufactured today,but in order to avoid'the objections alrea' described it is necessary tomand for this type of roong finished in surfacg produce a series of.separate stocks of the shingles, the color arrangement in the shinglesof each stock being either wholly or partly different from thatV of theshingles of the other stocks, and the shingles of the separate stocksbeing thereafter assembled in accordance` with a predetermined plan sothat when they are taken by the workman laying the roof, from thepackage containing them, and laid up in vregular order, the nished roofwill have the desired haphazard varrangement of the colors. Thenecessity for making separate runs for producing the shingles of thedierent series, is .open to objection, since it entails a large amountof storage space for the accumulation of the stocks which are to bemixed, and furthermore the assembling of the shingles of the variousseries requires additional labor and other expense.

The .primary object of my invention resides in the provision ofmechanism which can be very readily adopted in the manufactiu'e ofprepared roofing and by means of which colored mineral granules or othersurfacing material may be combined and applied to the roofing sheet insuch a way that successive shingles or strip shingles having varying*arrangements of color thereon, may be cut from the sheet andimmediately pack aged without the necessity for assortment andreassemblage.

With these and other objects in View, my invention consists in theorganization, arrangement and combination of elements as will pres--ently appear, and for a more complete understanding of the same and theadvantages thereof, reference may be had to the following more detaileddescription and to the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a view in elevation of one form of apparatus in which thepresent invention may be embodied,

Figure 2 is a plan view of part of the mechanism shown in Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a vvertical view in section taken along line 3-3 of Fig-urev1, through one of the compartments for containing the mineral grit to beapplied to the roong sheet and the means for delivering the materialfrom the hopper to the sheet, v

Figure 4 is a detail view in planiof mechanism which may be employed inthe compartments in accordance with my invention, t

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4, but showing certain of themechanism shown in Figure 4, partially removed from operative position,

Figure 6 is a collective view in detail, of certain of the devicesappearing in Figures 4 and 5.

Figure '7 is a view similar to Figure 4, showing the parts in anotherposition.

Figures 8, 9 and 10 are detail views in plan of various arrangements ofcertain of the parts that may be employed in carrying'out my invention,

Figure 11 is a view showing a baflling plate that may be employed inconjunction with the invention.

Figure 12 shows an arrangement for securing certain ornamental effectsin accordance with the invention.

It will be understood that the sheet of felt forming the foundation ofthe roofing material, saturated to the extent desired with waterproofingliquid such as molten asphalt and coated on one or both faces thereofwith 'high' melting point blown asphalt, is fed with the sticky'asphalton the surface thereof, continuously bene'ath the mechanism for applyingthe surfac-y ing material to the surface of the sheet which isto form inthe finished product the exposed face thereof. Generally the oppositesurface of the sheet when provided with coating, is covered with somenon-adherent material such as finely powdered mica or talc, although itis within the contemplation of my invention that after one surface ofthe sheet has been covered with the granular surfacing material thesheet may be reversed by any suitable mechanism so that in the furthertravel thereof it will present its opposite surface to a surfacingmechanism similar to that employed in the first instance so as to coverthe opposite side with granular material which may be of a charactersimilar to or different from that on the first side and with a colorlarrangement either duplicating that on the first side, or differenttherefrom.

It will also be understood that after the surfacing material has beenapplied to the sheet the latter is fed ,around suitable pressure rollsto cause the granular substance to be more firmly imbedded in thelasphalt coating, whereafter the sheet may be formed into rolls ofdesired size or cut into individual or strip shingles of any suitable ordesirable shape.

Referring in detail to the drawings, S indicates a section of asphaltsaturated and coated roofing felt as it is proceeding beneath thesurfacing mechanism. In the production of this type of roofing it isgenerally the common practice to deposit the granular mineral surfacingin such way as to form a plurality of ribbonswof various colors orshades upon the sheet, which, in the case of strip shingles cuttransversely from the sheet,

corresponding to tabs of the shingle strip. In-

the mechanism shown on the drawings, three distinct streams of color-are deposited so as to produce' three distinct ribbons extendinglongitudinally of the sheet, these ribbons or stripes of color being ofapproximately equal width, but obviously, the number, as well as therelative widths of the stripes,.may be varied as desired. Each of (thesestreams is produced by one of the series of 'compartments A, B, C, eachof which is divided off into separate compartments wherein a constantsupply of mineral of the desired primary colors is maintained.

The individual compartments are indicated in each series by the numerals1,'2, 3 and 4, after the letter representing the respective series.

.The compartment series are preferably formed as elongated cylindricalcontainers provided on the interior thereof with vertical partitions 40,

' as will be more fully explained hereinafter, with granular materialcontained in one or more of `the other compartments in the same series.In one embodiment of my invention, I associate with each of the seriesof compartments a rotatable blending disk 42 which is so constructed asto be capable of producing, when used in conjunction with certaincontrol plates as will be more'fully explained, various mixtures ofmineral from the compartments composing each series. In the form shown,the blending disks 42 may be simply flat circular plates of metal orother suitable wear-resistant material, and, as illustrated in Figures 4to'7, may be formed with an arcuate series of perforations 43 and aplurality of radial series of openings 44.

The blending disks 42 are each mounted for rotation upon an inwardlydirected bearing flange 45 formed at the upper end of a funnel shapedchamber 46 which is adapted to receive the mineral withdrawn from thecorresponding compartment series for delivery to the coated sheet.

In order to effect rotation of the blending disks 42, the latter areeach provided with a hub portion 47 suitably connected to a rotatableshaft 48 so that upon rotation of the latter the disk 42 connectedtherewith will be caused to rotate. The shafts 48 may be journalled insuitable supports and connected in any convenient way with a source ofpower. As shown; the connections of the shafts with the source of powermay be through the gears 49 fixed to the respective shafts and meshingwith similar gears 50 which may be connected with a main drive shaft(not shown). The connection of the shafts 48 with the main drive shafti's preferably such that independent control may be exercised over thespeed or direction of rotation of each of the shafts, so that any one ormore ofthe shafts may either be disconnected at will or independentlymanipulated so as to increase or decrease the speed thereof in relationto the speed of rotation of the other shafts. Conveniently, and withadvantage, in many instances, these connections may, if desired, includesuitable variable speed devices.

For the purpose of producing various predeterminedmixtures of materialfrom the compartments in each series, I employ in conjunction with\therotating discs 42, flat control plates 5l, such asshownby way ofexample, in Figures 4 to 7, these plates beingvadapted forinlsertion.be-

low the compartments in each series, and when- Legame "against theexterior surface of the outer wall, of

the compartments and with a handle portion 53 to permit ready insertionand removal of the plates. In order to facilitate the insertionoffthecontrol plates in the compartments and their removal therefrom, they maybe formed with radial openended slits 55 for co-operation with verticalgindeplates 56 xed within each of the compartments adjacent the lowerend thereof.

In order to relieve the disk and control plates fromv the bulk of theweight of material in each compartment, I may provide cone-shaped pans5,4, fixed. within each ofthe compartments at a suitable distanceabovethe control plate therein.

As already indicated, the mineral of yprimary color in'the variouscompartments in. each series may be unitedl and intermingled in such away as to produce a stream of granules, the composition of which may bevaried depending 4upon vthe relative arrangement of the perforations inthe blending disk and upon `the style of control plate used inconjunctiontherewith. Thus, onearrangement by way of example, is shownin Figure 4, wherein one of the series of compartments, as for exampleseries A, may have the separate compartments Al, A2, A3, A4 thereof,supplied -With i granulesof di'erent colors, the arrangement here being`such as 'to produce` a mixture of approxi` mately three parts of thelmaterial in compartment A3 and approximately one part of the material incompartment A2, with a periodic addi-v 1 tation thereon.. In thecompartment A2 there is inserted a segmental control plate 51h, adaptedto block out approximately two-thirds ot the area of the surface exposedin thiscompart-` ment by the perforations in the disk 42, during therotation thereof. The compartment A3V inthis instance is provided with acontrol plate Sloot the same type asthe plate 51h, but of lesserradialextent, the proportioning as shown, being such as to block outvone-thirdofthe area exposed in this compartment bythe perforations in the disc 42during the rotation thereof.'L In the compartment A4 a control plate 51dmay be employed, this type of control plate being provided-only with anarcuate slot 57 in the-body thereof, Vso

as to block out the radial seriesof perforations 44 in the rotating diskwhile the arcuate slot- 57 registers periodically with the arcuateseries-of perforations 43 in the disk, 42 during the rotation thereof.As will be apparent, during the rotation of the disk associatedwith thisseries of compartments, there will be constantly formed a mixture ofapproximately 1- part A.of the material in compartment A2 With'about 3partsof that in compartment A3`y and to this mixture there will be addedperiodically the material from Compartment A4, this addition occurringupon th'efregistration `of the perforations 43 in the disk 42 withthe-slot 57 in the c ontrpipla 51a` of-thisjompartmentg Manifest-lyA theeiects may be varied to suit the particular type ofmaterial to 'be' pro"duced by a judicious choice of Acontrol plates usedy inthe variouscompartments.

In some instances, for exampleit may be desirable to employ in each ofthe compartments in a series, control plates'such as shown at 51d sothat the material in ,the compartments will be discharged therefrom onlyupon the `registration of the perforations 43 the rotating disk 42withntlre slots 57, in the respective control plates. In this case, aswill be obvious, there Willbe a substantially periodic variation in thecomposition of, thegranular mixture delivered fromthis series. Thus.assuming that the compartment A1 contains a red mineral, the`compartment A2 a green mineral, thecompartment A3 a yellow mineral, andthe .compartmentAfl a brown min eral, each of these compartmentsA beingfitted with control plates of the `type shown at 51d, and the disk`42rotating in a counter-clockwise direction, there will be delivered atone stage, for example, a solid red mineral, followed-by a mix tureofthe green mineral with the red, the proportions of the green mineralconstantly increasing and the proportions of the red mineral constantlydecreasing until solid green mineral is delivered. rThen, upon theentrance of the perforations 43 beneath the compartmentAS, the greenmineral. will be constantly varied by increasing proportions of theyellow mineral in compartment A3 until a solid yellow mineral isdelivered, whereupon during the further rotation of the ,disk the brownmineral from compartment A4 becomes mixed in gradually increasingquantity with the yellow mineral from compartment A3 lWhile ,theproportion of yellow decreases until solidv brown mineral is delivered,which is then varied Vby the increasing -amounts of the red mineral incompartment A1 as the disk continues lto rotate, land so on, the seriesof colors repeating itself in this order. Obviously the sequence inwhichy the colors are delivered 'may be varied by reversing thedirection of rotation of the'disk or by storing` the primary colorsinthe compartments or. seriesof compartments in va diierent order.Furthermore, it will be apparent that the rapidity with which the changein the composition of the mixture delivered from the seriesofcompartments may be effected, will dependA uponA the speed of rotationof the disk 42 in relation to therate-of travel of the sheet ofroonmateriah the more rapid the rate of rotation of the diskfor aconstant linear speedof the sheet, the shorter will be the period of thechange, and vice` versa. Hence, by connecting the shafts carrying, thegears 50 vwith suitable variable speed mechanism, the speed of rotationof the disk maybe varied as desired so as to increaseor decrease theperiodic change in .the composition ofV the-.mineral deliveredfrom theseries of compartments. Where themechanism is employed in themanufacture of stripshingles, the rate otrotationiof the disk 42, may,if desired, beA sufciently rapid, in relation tov the linear speed ofthe` sheet. ofroong base, to cause the mixtures of varying colors to be'deposited on the sheet in successive areas qcoresponding substantiallyto the tabs of the finished shingle strip.:

It will .be understood of course,, that the Quangv tity of4,miner^aldelivered at any onetime by a series of compartments, is .governedby thesize and dispositionvof the perforations inthe blend-y ing..diskrelative tothe openings in the cooper` ating control,plates.=andobviously, the lparts must ybe so proportioned as Lto provideat alltimes a 'now of mineral suncient to cover the desired area of the sheet,and Where, as'shown, a plurality of series of compartments are employedto surface a sheet of roofing base, substantially equal quantities aredelivered from each series and the total quantity delivered from all theseries should manifestly be ample to completely surface the entire widthof the sheet during its progressive travel forwardly.

In actual practice, it frequently happens that the sheet of roofingslows down somewhat in its travel, due to delays at other points alongthe roofing machine, and not infrequently thetravel of the sheet must beentirely stopped temporarily. It will be obvious of course, that undersuch circumstances, the perforations in the rotating disk 42 which arenot covered or closed oi by solid portions of the associated controlplates, would continue to discharge mineral upon the surface of theretarded or halted sheet. The mineral thus accumulating while the sheetis not moving forwardly under normal speed would be wasted, for it wouldbe very difficult to segregate the components thereof or thereafterdistribute the same in the desired manner over the surface of thesheet.- I provide means for taking care of such a contingency and f orotherwise enabling the surfacing operation to be conducted under bettercontrol.

For this purpose, I provide mechanism including stop plates and meansfor moving the same to and from a position in which the flow of mineralproduced by the associated rotating disk and control plates may bestopped entirely or .diminished to any desired extent., In the formillustrated, this mechanism comprises stop plates 60 adapted to slidablyt within the space in each compartment between the upper surface of therotating disk 42 and the lower face of the control plate therein. Thesestop plates are of quadrant shape and are provided with a plurality ofradial and arcuate series of perforations 60a similar to those in thedisk 42, but staggered with relation.,l thereto in respect to the axialcenter of the compartment series so that when'the stop plates are movedto the position shown in Figure 4, the perforations therein will be outof register with those in the rotating disk and consequently no mineralwill flow from this series of compartments. On the other hand, when thestop plates 60 are in the position shown in Figure 7, (the controlplates being omitted in this ilgure for the sake of clearness), theperforations therein will coincide with the openings in the disk andhence permit the mineral to ilow therethrough. Between the open positionof Figure '7 and the closed position of Figure 4, the stop plates may becaused to rest at intermediate positions in which the openings in thedisk 42, will be more or less partially shut off.

In any event, however, the movement of the plates 60 to and from theirrespective positions, is accomplished by a mechanism preferably designedto move all the plates simultaneously. As

-shown in Figure 2, the arrangement comprises plates 61 adapted foroperative connection with the stop plates of the compartments A1, A2, C3and C4, and semi-circular plates 62a to 62d adapted for connection withthe stop plates of a pair of adjoining intervening compartments. Thus,as shown, plate 62a is connected with the stop plates of compartmentsA4and B1, plate B2b is connected with those of compartments A3A and B2,plate 62c with. those of compartments B3 and C2, and plate 62d withthose of compartmentsB4 and C1. The plates 61 `and 62a-62d are eachprovided with eccentric slots 64 within otherwise secured to ears 66extending outwardly from the arcuate edge of each stop platesubstantially at the mid-point thereof. The stop plates are also formedwith radially extending open slits 67 adapted to embrace the guideplates 56 within the compartments so as to maintain the stop plates atall times in proper axial position. It will-,be seen that uponrotativegmovement of vthe plates 61 and 62a, b, c and d the pins 65 willslide within the eccentric slots 64 and cause the stop plates to bemoved inwardly or outwardly depending upon the direction of rotation ofthe operating plates. The movement of the operating plates is effectedby the sliding bars 70 and 7l mounted upon suitable supports and guidedin their movement by the fixed pins 70a and 71a passing throughelongated slots 7Gb and 71h formed in the bars near the ends thereof.Fixed at suitably spaced points along the bars 70 and 71 are a number ofpins '72, adapted to' slide, during rectilinear movement of theoperating bars within closed slots 73 in the arms 74, projectingradially from the main body of the plates 6l and 62a-62d, the operatingplates being pivoted as at 75 in any convenient manner. Movement of thebars 70 and 71 is effected manually by means of an operating lever 76pivoted at 77 to a support '78 and passing through a slot 79 formed inthe bar 80 connecting the bars 70 and 71 for unitary movement.

The operation of the foregoing mechanism Will be obvious. Uponmanipulation of the lever 76 the bars 70 and 71 may be caused to slideunitarily in Aone direction or the other, thereby effectingsimultaneously rotation of all the operating plates and inward oroutward movement of the stop plates connected therewith. l

Hence, when the operator observes a slowing up in the speed of travel ofthe sheet being surfaced, the flow of mineral from all the series ofcompartments may be diminished by moving the A lever 76 in the properdirection to cause the stop plates to move toward the position shown inFigure v4, and upon resumption of the normal rate of travel of thesheet, the lever 76 may be manipulated in the opposite direction so asto bring the stop plates to the relative position shown in Figure 7. Itwill be understood of course, that either in the full or partially openposition of the stop plates, the quantity of mineral owing from eachseries of compartments is substantially the same, while the sequence andrelative proportion of mineral delivered from the respectivecompartments of each series is substantially preserved.

I have heretofore set forth various ways in which different effects maybe produced by the mineral delivered from the compartments in oneseries, and obviously, by the employment of appropriate control platesin conjunction with the disks 42 rotating beneath the other series ofcompartments, these latter may be similarly made to deliver a iiow ofmineral composed of any desired mixture, either of constant or of acontinually varying composition of the various minerals maintained inthe separate compartments ofthe respective series. While the characterof .the flow from the said other series of compartments may be identicalwith that produced from progresses, it is preferred to make such aselection of colors in the compartments of the various series and to'associate the control plates therewith and operate the drivingconnections, all in such a way that the mixture delivered from eachseries will-be more or less different from that delivered from any oneof the other series,

,and the mixture from each series being either of constant orperiodically varying composition, as desired. Thus, where threecompartment series are employed. thesheet may be surfaced with threestripes or ribbons of different colors or shades, and where thecomposition of one or more of the streams is caused to vary continually.the corresponding bands or stripes on the sheet will vary more or lessperiodically in color. The color effects to be produced when laying'uproofing shingles or strip shingles successively cut from a sheet ofroofing material surfaced as described, will of course, govern theselection of the minerals fed tothe various compartments, and the typeof rotating blending disk and control plates to be used therein.-

Asfone illustration of a particular color effect that might'be producedin accordance herewith. I may employ inconjunction with each of thethree series of compartments. a rotating diskhaving suitably spacedopenings therein and co-operating control plates formed with slots orperforations so related to the openings in the disk that in one positionof the disk the charge of mineral delivered from each series will becomposed of certain denite proportions of the mineral from certain of'the compartments in said series. then at a later stage in the rotationof the disk. the stream will be composed of the same'or diierentproportions of mineral from the same and/or other compartments of theseries, followed then by a mitxure' composed of either the same or stilldifferent proportions of mineral from any one or more of the said and/orother compartments of the series, and then. if desired, by a stilldiierent mixture of desired composition from certain compartment in theseries. the sequence in the com? position of the charge thereuponrepeating itself. In Figures 8, V9 and l0 I show an arrangement ofrotating disks and vco-operating control plates that may be used in thevarious compartment series to secure charges of the aforesaid character.

Referring to these figures. the blending disks 42a, 42h and 42o areadaptedto be mounted for rotation in the compartmentseries A, B, and C,respectively.. Within the compartments Al, B3, there may be insertedcontrol plates such as shown at85: within the compartments A2 and B1there may be placed control plates as shown at 86; withinthe-compartments A3 and B2 there may be placed the control'iplates shownat 87; within the compartments A4, B3,C2 and C3, control plates as at88: within the compartment C4 control plates as at 89 -and in thecompartment C1, a control plate as at 90. The rotating disks 42a, 42hand 42e are formed as shown, with a plurality of series of circularopeningsfarranged concentrically and located .'at various point-scircumferentially ofthe respective disks as shown. The control platesareformed with arcuate slots or perforations as indicated by the letter afollowing the numerals representing the respective plates, of greater orless radial dimension and at various radial distances from the axialcenter of the compartment series. Other of these plates, as for examplethose shown at 88 and 90, are notprovided with slots as just described,but are segmental in shape and of greater above described cycle.

or less radial ydimension'from the outer edge thereof. Theforeshortening of the control plates 88 and 90 and the arrangement ofthe slots in the control plates 8, 86 and 87, is such that desiredproportions of mineral will be delivered from selected compartments ofeach series dur.- ing the continued rotation of the blendingV diskassociated therewith, the mineral from the compartment or compartmentsof each series not desired in the mixture at any one stage during therotationof the disk, being blocked oi.

In the particular arrangement illustrated, and assuming that thecompartments A l, B1 and C1l contain red mineralA the compartments A2,B2 and C2. black mineral, the compartments A3, B3 and C3 green mineral,and the compartments A4, B4 and C4 brown mineral, and referring morespecifically to Figure 8, it will beV seen that with the disk 42a in theposition shown in this figure, there will be exposed by the controlplate 86 in the compartment A2. six openings in the disk. and by thecontrol plate 88 in compartment A4, four openings in the disk. so thatmineralv will be discharged from these two compartments in theproportion of three parts of black to two parts of brown, the openingsin the rotating disk underneath the other compartments of this seriesbeing blocked out, by virtue of the fact that in thisposition of thedisk none of the openingstherein are in registration with slots in thecontrol plates in these compartments.

As the disk '42a rotates in a vcounter-,clockwise direction through anarc of 90 it reaches a position wherein mineral from compartments Al andA2 is blocked o by the rcontrolplates therein. while the controlplate 87in compartment A3 exposes six openings in the disk and control plate 88in compartment A4 exposes three openings in the disk, thus producing amixture composed of two parts green and one part brown. When the diskhas passed through another 90r in its rotation, the black mineral ofcompart-v ment A2 is blocked by the control plate 86, while controlplates 87, 88 and 85 each expose three openings in the disk so as toform a mixture of equal parts of red, green and brown mineral. Then, astheI disk rotates through another 90 it reaches a position where thecontrol plate 87 in compartment A8 exposes three openings in the diskand the control plate 88 in Compart- 125 ment A4 exposes six openings inthe disk, thus forming a mixture composed Vof one part green mineral,and two parts brown mineral. Thereafter, the return of the disk to thevposition initiallyrefe'rred to will eiect repetition ofthe 130 lt willbe seen that substantially the same number of holes in the diskareexposed at all times vduring'the rotation thereof, and consequently therate of feed of mineral from the compartment series is substantiallyuniform. `It will be understood also, that as the disk continues in itsrotation there 'will be a more or less slight blending of the successivemixtures produced at the various stages.

Similarly, rotation of the disk 42h of the com- 140 partment series B,in co-operation with the arrangement of control plates shown in Figure9, will produce a stream, the composition of which is rst one part greenand two parts black, then equal parts of green, black and brown,followed by two parts green and one partV black, and then by three partsred and two parts green. Likewise the stream from the compartment seriesC may be composed successively of two parts green and one part black,then equal parts of green, black and brown, followed by two parts blackand one part green.`

The period of change in the composition of the mixture in the severalstreams will depend, of course, upon the rate of rotation of theblending disks 42a, 42h and 42o, and while in some instances the rate ofrotation may be the same for the disks of all Athe compartment series,it is preferred, in order to produce a more harmonious effect on theroof, free from any appearance of patterning, to connect the shafts 48for independent operation as heretofore described, so that while any ofthese streams may be composed of a mixture which changes and repeatsitself -relatively rapidly, any one or all of the other streams may becomposed of Va mixture in which the succession of the various mixturesrepeats itself relatively slowly. Thus, the shaft of the compartmentseries A may rotate at 35 R. P. M., that of series B at 20 R. P. M., andthat of series C at 28 R. P. M.

In this Way, repetition in the arrangement of the colors transversely ofthe sheet is reduced to a minimum and the tendency towards splotchy orpatterned effects on the roof laid with shingies cut from the sheet isthereby practically entirely eliminated.

The mineral discharged from each series of compartments flows throughthe funnel-shaped chambers 46 to the downwardly inclined chutes forconveying the mixtures to the mixing chambers 81, in which are arrangedseries of inclined baille plates 82 adapted to effect an intimatecommingling of the minerals contained in each stream, the final mixturefrom the lowermost baille in each chamber being deposited upon thesheetof coated roofing base travelling therebeneath. If desired, each ofthe baille plates may be provided, as shown in Figure 11 with shallowgrooves or flutes extending transversely thereof and arranged to eiect alateral spreading ofthe stream of mineral so as to cause the componentsthereof to become more intimately mixed.

'Ihe rotating shafts 48 pass through stuffing boxes 83 in the walls ofthe chutes 80 and extend upwardly through the chutes and unnel chambers46 for connection with the res ective rotating disks 42. The funnels,together with their associated chutes, may be removably mounted so as topermit lowering of the shafts toenable the disks 42 to be exchanged, orother parts to be replaced.

I have heretofore referred to the minerals in each of the compartmentsin a series as being composed of mineral of a single primary color, butit should be understood that in certain instances the minerals in theseseparate compartments may be composed of any desired mixture ofminerals, which mixtures from the compartments in a series may then becombined as' desired, by the luse of appropriate control plates inassociation with the rotating dis Instead of depositing the mineral uponthe sheet in steady streams so as to produce color bands substantiallyparallel to the longitudinal edges of the sheet, the streams asdelivered from the mixing chambers 81 may be caused to oscillate to andfro by any suitable means, as for example by means of pipes or spouts81a freely mounted for,

oscillation upon a shaft 81h and rocked upon the shaft by a rocker arm81c-carryin8 Pins 81d on opposite sides of the spout arid actuated by aneccentric disk 81e mounted on a shaft 81f. By thus oscillating theVstreams .before they reach the sheet the minerals will be deposited inwavy or undulating bands instead of straight parallel bands, and byvarying the amplitude of oscillation of the streams, various ornamentaleffects may be produced in additionf to those which may be produced bythe variation in colors as already described. n

It will thus be seen that by my present invention I provide mechanismaffording considerable latitude and flexibility of operation, and whichis readily adapted to the production of composition roofing not only ofany solid shade of mineral or predetermined mixture of minerals, butwhich is also adapted for surfacing a sheet with a plurality of stripeswhich may be of differently colored minerals, and the color of which mayundergo more or less change as the operation continues so thatsuccessive roofing elements cut either lengthwise or crosswise of thesheet, may be packaged directly as they are delivered from the cuttingoperation without requiring them to be assorted and reassembled in orderto produce when laid upon the roof, a harmonious association or blendingof colors such asis no'w in great demand in the prepared roofingindustry.

Having thus described several embodiments of my invention it will beevident to those skilled in the art that many and devious changes andmodifications may be made therein without departing from its spirit orscope as defined by the claims hereunto appended.

I.claim as my invention:

1. Apparatus of the character described comprising a plurality ofcompartments arranged in a series, each of said compartments beingadapted tp contain a supply of granular roofing material of desiredprimary color and a perforated disk operatively associated with saidseries of compartments constructed for simultaneously dischargingtherefrom a plurality of streams from the different supplies of granularmaterial contained in said compartments to form a continuous charge of aperiodically varying predetermined mixture of the mineral in saidcompartments.

2. Apparatus of the character described comprising a plurality ofcompartments arranged in a series, each of said compartments beingadapted to contain a granular roofing mineral of desired primary color,means for advancing a roofing sheet to be gritted under saidcompartments, means operatively associated with said series ofcompartments constructed for simultaneously discharging therefrom aplurality of streams from the different supplies of granular'materialcontained in said compartments to forma continuous charge of aperiodically varying predetermined mixture of the mineral in saidcompartments, and means for regulating the rate of flow of said chargein accordance vwith the rate of travel of the roofing sheet.

3. An apparatus of the character described comprising a series ofcompartments, each compartment in the series being adapted to containmineral roofing granules of different primary colors, stationary controlmeans associated with said compartments and having discharge openings ofdifferential capacities and a perforated disc cooperating with saiddischarge openings for rotation therebeneath to simultaneously withdrawroong granules therefrom in periodic succession.

4. An. apparatus of the character described comprising a series ofcompartments, each hopper i9 Seid series being adapted to containmineral granules of different character, control plate means havingopenings of predetermined and differential capacitiessituated beneathsaid compartments and a rotating perforated disc cooperating with saidopenings'to simultaneously withdraw a plurality of streams of saidminerals of diiferent characters in cyclically varying proportions,means for thoroughly admixing the granules in said streams andv'applying the same to an advancing sheet of roofing.

5. Apparatus of the character described comprising a series ofcompartments, each of lsaid compartments adapted to contain mineralroong kgranules of different character, aplurality of con-l trol platesdetachably and interchangeably asso-1 ciated with the said compartmentsand a rrotating disc having openings cooperating with said controlplates Afor simultaneouslyr withdrawing -a ing the streams thusdischargedy and applying the rsame to an advancing Lsheet of' roofing;

6. Apparatus of the'ycharacter, described com- Uprising a series ofcompartments, 4,each of said compartments adapted to containmineralroong l granules of diierentcharacter, means for'simultaneouslywithdrawing streamsofroong granules from a pluralityof'saidfcompartments, and means for continuously changing the Vratio ofthe granules composedby said streamsiwithoutsubstantiallygchangingtheaggregate volume of thev K granulesof the totalor said streams, and means forv interadmixing the simultaneouslydischarging streams of varying composition and applying the same to anadvancing sheet lof roong.

'7. Apparatus of the -character described comprising-a' series ofCOmpartments, each of said compartments adapted to contain mineral roonggranules of different character, means for simultaneously dischargingstreams of roong granules from a plurality of said compartments, andmeans for cyclically varyingl the composition of one stream relative tothe others without substantially changing the aggregate quantity of theplurality vof vstreams being simultaneously discharged, and means l foradmixing the streams and applying the same to an advancing sheet ofroofing.

' 1 8. Anf apparatus 'of i the character described comprising a seriesof compartments, each of said compartments adapted to contain mineralroong .plurality of streams fromsaidcompartments in cyclicallyvvaryinglproportions, means for admixgranulesy of diierent character, controlmeans haying openings of different capacities cooperating-withsaidcompartments, a rotatable perforated discperiodically registering withsaid openi roong granules from a plurality of said compartmentsk inperiodic succession, the perforations in y said disc and the openingsprovided by the cooperative'control means being so related as toinsure'afsubstantially, uniformA rate of feed of themi'neral from theseries of compartments.

JULES L. WET'rLAUFER.

